Ammoconia senex
Encyclopedia
Ammoconia senex is a moth
of the Noctuidae
family. It is found in the European part of the Mediterranean Region and an isolated population near the Middle Rhine
. It is also found in Turkey
, the Caucasus
, Iraq
and Iran
.
The wingspan
is 36-46 mm. Adults are on wing from September to October or November.
The larvae feed on various low-growing plants, including Plantago
and Taraxacum
.
Moth
A moth is an insect closely related to the butterfly, both being of the order Lepidoptera. Moths form the majority of this order; there are thought to be 150,000 to 250,000 different species of moth , with thousands of species yet to be described...
of the Noctuidae
Noctuidae
The Noctuidae or owlet moths are a family of robustly-built moths that includes more than 35,000 known species out of possibly 100,000 total, in more than 4,200 genera. They constitute the largest family in the Lepidoptera....
family. It is found in the European part of the Mediterranean Region and an isolated population near the Middle Rhine
Middle Rhine
Between Bingen and Bonn, Germany, the Rhine River flows as the Middle Rhine through the Rhine Gorge, a formation created by erosion, which happened at about the same rate as an uplift in the region, leaving the river at about its original level, and the surrounding lands raised...
. It is also found in Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
, the Caucasus
Caucasus
The Caucasus, also Caucas or Caucasia , is a geopolitical region at the border of Europe and Asia, and situated between the Black and the Caspian sea...
, Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
and Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
.
The wingspan
Wingspan
The wingspan of an airplane or a bird, is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777 has a wingspan of about ; and a Wandering Albatross caught in 1965 had a wingspan of , the official record for a living bird.The term wingspan, more technically extent, is...
is 36-46 mm. Adults are on wing from September to October or November.
The larvae feed on various low-growing plants, including Plantago
Plantago
Plantago is a genus of about 200 species of small, inconspicuous plants commonly called plantains. They share this name with the very dissimilar plantain, a kind of banana. Most are herbaceous plants, though a few are subshrubs growing to 60 cm tall. The leaves are sessile, but have a narrow...
and Taraxacum
Taraxacum
Taraxacum is a large genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae. They are native to Eurasia and North America, and two species, T. officinale and T. erythrospermum, are found as weeds worldwide. Both species are edible in their entirety...
.
Subspecies
- Ammoconia senex senex (northern Mediterranean Region)
- Ammoconia senex mediorhenana Fuchs, 1879 (Middle Rhine)
- Ammoconia senex typhoea Turati, 1909 (Sicily)
- Ammoconia senex wagneri (Boursin, 1935) (Bulgaria)
- Ammoconia senex victoris Ronkay & Varga, 1994 (Turkey)
- Ammoconia senex rjabovi Ronkay & Varga, 1984 (DagestanDagestanThe Republic of Dagestan is a federal subject of Russia, located in the North Caucasus region. Its capital and the largest city is Makhachkala, located at the center of Dagestan on the Caspian Sea...
) - Ammoconia senex transhamadanensis Gyulai & Ronkay, 2006 (Iran)